This invention relates to miniature relays.
A miniature Dual-in-line (DIL) relay is disclosed in U.K. Patent Specification No. 1,387,112 in which the motor unit is held between two opposing casing halves which link together to lock the motor unit in position. The casing halves have embedded in respective sidewalls thereof a conductor frame which projects below the casing to provide external DIL connection tags and projects from the other edge of each sidewall to support the fixed and moving contacts of the relay and to provide connection terminals for the ends of the motor unit winding.
This relay does not lend itself ideally to automatic assembly, partly because the winding of the motor unit is terminated manually to the connection terminals of the conductor frame, which is a delicate operation and can result in a poor yield caused by faulty connections. Furthermore in a development of the relay shown in this patent, the yoke of the motor unit has sideways projecting lugs which fit into apertures in the sidewalls carrying the conductor frames, which apertures locate the motor unit. This arrangement however requires the motor unit and sidewalls to be nested and assembled together, and it is a difficult operation to achieve, at least in the short term, the necessary degree of mechanization for acceptable automatic assembly.